Whoa!!!!! Reminder to self - not EVERYWHERE is thawed yet!

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Few white knuckle moments today....

Headed out of Sheffield, over Ringinglow and then planned on heading to Stanage Edge, but the road looked dicey so I continued down the side roads to School Lane in Hathersage.

Black ice is interesting on a descent.....

Hopped off and walked in the grass verge grateful that the first bit I hit was going straight, and just an inch or so sideways skit before the front tyre gripped tarmac again

Just a shame that after the long climb out of Sheffield, the reward of the descent was done with tentative footsteps, wheeling the bike

Not yet time to leave those main roads just yet then.....

 

[Gixxerman]

Yep I noticed that as well yesterday.
I got the MTB out and went out for a 20 mile ride along some of my favourite back roads here in Lincolnshire.

All was going well for the first 4 miles or so as the roads are quite heavily used by traffic, so they were sort of clear. The only issue is that when cars are wanting to pass or coming towards you, I had to get off the road to let them pass. Well I didn't have to, but I chose to out of courtesy. If I didn't it would mean that they would have to go out of the two wheel tracks that were down to the road surface and also go onto the large drifts either side of the road. They would risk getting stuck or damaging their cars, and it was a lot easier for me to stop and get off the road. A lot (but not all) drivers thanked me for my courtious act.

I then went onto some smaller roads that do not see as much traffic. This is when the trouble started. These roads had about 3 to 4 inches of slush, which I have say if the sliperiest stuff I have ever tried riding on. If I rode in the wheel tracks where it was a bit shallower it wasn't too bad, but any sort of lateral slope on the road lead to me drifting out of the wheel tracks and the bike crossing up. I could ride in the middle of the road, which also worked until I broke through the icy crust and then I just ground to a halt. I couldn't remain clipped in as there was a risk of coming off or stopping at any time. So I had to just use my instep on the SPD pedals.

Anything approaching a moderate upward gradient was just impossible. The effort to overcome the drag caused by the front wheel just lead to copious amounts of wheelspin and the inevitable stop. So it was a case of getting off and walking. At best, 6mph was was achieveable. After 10 miles of walking / starting / stopping / almost falling off / cursing, the fun was starting to wear off. So I curtailed my ride and took some better roads home. But alas, because of where I was, this still meant that I had to take a few lightly used back roads. I was riding down one that was for the most part down to tarmac in the wheel tracks, with occaisonal patches of hard packed ice, which was very slippery. As I approched home, the road looked to be getting better, so I clipped in. But unfortunately, this was a bit premature and I hit a large patch of ice at 10mph, and lost the front. I was down before I could get unclipped and went down quite hard on my right hip and elbow. The bar end hit the road and took most of the impact. Luckily, both me and the bike were OK, with just a few scratches on the bar end and a bit of road rash. I was pleased when I eventually got home. I will wait to it has thawed a bit more before venturing out again.

I have attached a few pictures of the worst roads I navigated. The road was pretty much like this all the way along it.

 

[jackm]

Decided a few weeks ago that I wanted a little ride through the Forest of Dean, its only 15 miles up the road, so loaded the MTB in the car, and tootled over,

Selected my starting point near Speech House, climbed over the style, and off i went. Down hill, forest track, looked very wet, so started pedalling ......suddenly thought,,,, wet road, can't hear any water splash, or feel it! Put a tentative foot out, OMG its sheet ice!!

Backed off(gently) and continued(wisely?)

Had a good ride round, couple of skids, some long climbs, with wheelspin...a first for me!!

Managed to stay on for a full 20 miles, but must say it was hard work as it's the first time I've been off-road for over 30 years.

Nearly got assualted by a rotvieller called Reg who wasn't on a lead, while his owner said "Don't, Reg, there's a good boy" in a real I can't control my dog voice.

Final meeting before I got back to the car was with another dog walker who was in a little more control of his animals, who thought it was "very dangerous to be out on a bike in theese conditions" Conversation went no further when I told him I'd stayed on for 20 miles despite someone elses dog's best efforts!

 

[Liveaxle]

The ice had all gone down my way but the roads were still very slippery, I got caught out on a fast bend both wheels just went straight out from under me. resulting in...... nasty bit of road rash on my hip and leg and broken cycle helmet ( definitely preferable to cracked skull etc!)